9 children

When we've met various women who's shown an interest in our children, it usually turns out that they have 9 or 10 of their own. We even met one woman who has had 3 sets of twins. Just close your eyes and imagine....

So today I had a go myself! Catroniona's baby sitter was unwell, so me and Jess, the mother of Innes, Ziggy and Felix had them for the day - 9 children between the 2 adults. (All you teachers and professional child carers can start laughing now. "Nine children? If I had to look after nine children, that would be counted as annual leave.") How did we tackle it? Boredom was our enemy! We painted on several thousand sheets of paper (and the floor and table, and, rather surprisingly, not each other), we made christmas bells, we played with lego, we played in the paddling pool, we ate about 20,000 jam sandwiches. For lunch there was home made bread (not made by me) home made dips, cheese and ham available, so all the children went for peanut butter on crackers. The afternoon had Thomas the Tank engine on DVD and in a layout across the floor, several stories being read in loud voices at once, and the day ended with Play School on TV.

So now all the children are asleep with no fuss, everyone had a good day with minimal upset, and it has t be called a success. It was just one day, though.